Hall of State
The Hall of State was a grandiose building located at the center of a circular complex in a seaside city on Romulus. It was where the Senate of the Romulan Star Empire convened. Within the Senate chamber, there was a large statue of the imperial symbol over the main entrance to the room. The symbol was that of a bird-of-prey holding the two planets of the Romulan system, Romulus and Remus. The main body of the Senate sat in three rows near the entrance of the room. The Praetor and the Continuing Committee sat on the other side of the chamber. As of 2379, The floor in the center of the room had a map of the Empire that also showed the Neutral Zone; this area was used for anyone wishing to address the Senate. On the wall opposite the main entrance was a large display screen where the Senate could review information or communicate with anyone outside the Senate chamber. In 2154, the Senate chamber could be seen in the background behind the building Senator Valdore was controlling his drone ships from. ( ) In 2379, this chamber was the site of the assassination of the entire Romulan Senate with the exception of Senator Tal'aura, who planted a miniature thalaron radiation projector that killed her fellow senators. The first Federation citizen to have ever set foot in the chamber was Jean-Luc Picard in 2379, when he was invited there by Praetor Shinzon after he seized power upon orchestrating the assassination of the Senate. ( ) In the 2380s, both Ambassador Spock and Admiral Picard would address the Senate about the impending Romulan supernova in the Hall. ( ; ) Appendices Background information A miniature of the Romulan Senate chamber was created by Rob Woodruff and helped Conceptual Artist Tom Southwell to storyboard the scenes which were set in that room. ("Storyboarding the Action", Star Trek Nemesis (Special Edition) DVD) The sets for the interiors of the Romulan Senate chamber were constructed on Paramount Stage 32. (Star Trek Nemesis call sheets) In a line from the episode that was in the "Final Draft" script but not the aired episode, Benjamin Sisko tells Vreenak that proof of a Dominion attack on the Empire would mean nothing if the Romulans waited "until there were Jem'Hadar soldiers standing in your Senate chamber before you decided that the Founders weren't your friends after all." Location In the for , the establishing matte painting (which was later re-used for ) was described as an exterior view of the "Capitol city" of Romulus in daylight, which the Krocton Segment might have been implied to be a part of. Although they are both concentric, it is markedly different than the city around the Senate chamber shown in both "Nemesis" as well as in "Babel One"/"United"/"The Aenar" (both installments use the exact same CGI model). As "Nemesis" and "Star Trek: Enterprise" take place after and before "Unification", respectively, the different appearances of the "Capitol city" on the one hand and the city surrounding the Senate chamber on the other hand are difficult to explain with a simple change of the city-scape over time. It is, however, possible both shots (Nemesis/Enterprise vs. TNG/DS9) show different parts of the same city, which might contain more than one such concentric area, therefore retaining the "Capitol city" as the location of the Senate chamber. Apocrypha In many of the Star Trek novels, including Vulcan's Heart, Titan: Taking Wing, : The Good That Men Do, Enterprise: , Section 31: , and the Vulcan's Soul trilogy, the Romulan capitol building is referred to as the "Hall of State". External link * it:Camera del Senato Romulano ja:ロミュラン上院議会議場 Category:Romulus Category:Structures